How Tesla’s ‘Bioweapon Defense Mode’ Is Helping People Affected By The California Wildfires

By Amit Chowdhry ● November 11, 2018

Tesla Motors is providing several resources to help drivers who are dealing with the wildfires in California, which is the home state of the automaker. For example, CEO Elon Musk has authorized employees to provide assistance for the wildfires and not worry about payments according to Electrek. And Tesla also said it is going to make Supercharging free for vehicle owners affected by the wildfires.

Over the last few days, thousands of people were evacuated in Southern California and the wildfire in Paradise, California in the northern part of the state was one of the most destructive in state history in terms of the number of structures burned. The death toll has been rising and hundreds are missing due to the wildfires.

Tesla is known for providing relief during disastrous situations. Like when a hurricane destroyed the electric grid in Puerto Rico, Tesla shipped Powerwalls there. And Tesla regularly extended car batteries remotely during natural disasters such as Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Michael.

Musk said on Twitter that Tesla could help transport people with Model S and Model X vehicles:

If Tesla can help people in California wildfire, please let us know. Model S & X have hospital grade HEPA filters. Maybe helpful for transporting people.

The Model S and Model X vehicles have HEPA air filter systems, which is considered the most advanced air filters in passenger cars. It is about ten times larger than the ones in normal cars and 100 times more effective than premium automotive filters. These filters are able to remove at least 99.97% of gaseous pollutants, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and mold spores.

Tesla vehicles also have a “bioweapon defense mode.” This feature allows passengers to essentially survive military grade bio attacks. While this may sound like a gimmick, it is actually helping Tesla vehicle owners as they drive through the wildfires:

Horrible Bay Area air quality due to Paradise, CA fire… Check out this laser particle counter "Window Up / Window Down" test using the Model X Bio-Defense filter. Thank you Tesla! pic.twitter.com/iefEtRStqy

You weren't kidding about air quality in Norcal. Just got out from work and it's terrible. Will need to activate Bioweapon Defense Mode too. Hopefully people in worse off areas are ok. pic.twitter.com/fblTyxlDIO